正文翻譯

俄羅斯核潛艇墓地的可怕歷史

The equivalent of six-and-a-half Hiroshimas lies just beneath the ocean's surface.

相當于六個半的廣島位于海洋表面之下。

In the icy waters north of Russia, discarded submarine nuclear reactors lie deteriorating on the ocean floor—some still fully fueled. It’s only a matter of time before sustained corrosion allows seawater to eat its way to the abandoned uranium, causing an uncontrolled release of radioactivity into the Arctic.

在俄羅斯北部冰冷的海水中，廢棄的潛艇核反應(yīng)堆堆積在海床上，不斷惡化，有些仍然裝滿了燃料。持續(xù)的腐蝕會使海水侵蝕到被遺棄的鈾，導(dǎo)致放射性物質(zhì)無法控制地釋放到北極，這只是時間問題。

“Breach of protective barriers and the detection and spread of radionuclides in seawater could lead to fishing restrictions,” says Andrey Zolotkov, director of Bellona-Murmansk, an international non-profit environmental organization based in Norway. “In addition, this could seriously damage plans for the development of the Northern Sea Route—ship owners will refuse to sail along it.”

總部位于挪威的國際非營利環(huán)境組織貝洛娜·摩爾曼斯克的負責人安德烈?佐洛特科夫表示: “突破保護屏障、檢測并擴散海水中的放射性核素，可能會導(dǎo)致漁業(yè)減產(chǎn)?！薄按送?，這可能嚴重損害北海航線的開發(fā)計劃－－船東將拒絕沿著北海航線航行。”

News outlets have found more dire terms to interpret the issue. The BBC raised concerns of a “nuclear chain reaction” in 2013, while The Guardian described the situation as “an environmental disaster waiting to happen.” Nearly everyone agrees that the Kara is on the verge of an uncontrolled nuclear event, but retrieving a string of long-lost nuclear time bombs is proving to be a daunting challenge.

新聞媒體已經(jīng)找到了更可怕的術(shù)語來闡述這個問題。英國廣播公司在2013年提出了對“核連鎖反應(yīng)”的擔憂，而《衛(wèi)報》則將這種情況描述為“一場即將發(fā)生的環(huán)境災(zāi)難”幾乎所有人都認為，卡拉號即將發(fā)生一場無法控制的核事故，但找回一連串失蹤已久的定時核彈卻是一項艱巨的挑戰(zhàn)。

Nuclear submarines have a short lifespan considering their sheer expense and complexity. After roughly 20-30 years, degradation coupled with leaps in technology render old nuclear subs obsolete. First, decades of accumulated corrosion and stress limit the safe-dive depth of veteran boats. Sound-isolation mounts degrade, bearings wear down, and rotating components of machinery fall out of balance, leading to a louder noise signature that can be more easily tracked by the enemy.

考慮到核潛艇昂貴的費用和復(fù)雜性，它們的壽命很短。大約20-30年后，老化加上技術(shù)的飛躍，使得舊的核潛艇過時了。首先，數(shù)十年累積的腐蝕和壓力限制了舊船的安全潛水深度。隔音支架降級，軸承磨損，機械的旋轉(zhuǎn)部件失去平衡，導(dǎo)致更大的噪音信號，更容易被敵人跟蹤。

The Soviet unx and Russia built the world’s largest nuclear-powered navy in the second half of the 20th century, crafting more atom-powered subs than all other nations combined. At its military height in the mid-1990s, Russia boasted 245 nuclear-powered subs, 180 of which were equipped with dual reactors and 91 of which sailed with a dozen or more long-range ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.

蘇聯(lián)和俄羅斯在20世紀下半葉建造了世界上最大的核動力海軍，制造的原子動力潛艇比所有其他國家加起來還要多。在20世紀90年代中期的軍事高峰時期，俄羅斯擁有245艘核動力潛艇，其中180艘配備了雙反應(yīng)堆，其中91艘配備了12枚或更多裝載核彈頭的遠程彈道導(dǎo)彈。

The Soviet unx’s first nuclear-powered submarine was the K-3, the first of the NATO code-named November class (the Soviets called them the “Whale class”). The K-3 prototype sailed for the first time using nuclear power on July 4, 1958. All but one of the 14 November class vessels cruised with dual VM-A water-cooled nuclear reactors, with the final sub, the experimental K-27, powered by a pair of VT-1 liquid metal-cooled reactors.?

蘇聯(lián)的第一艘核子動力潛艇是 K-3，它是北約代號為 十一月 的第一艘潛艇(蘇聯(lián)人稱它們?yōu)椤蚌L魚級”)。1958年7月4日，K-3原型機首次使用核動力航行。11月14日，除了一艘以外，所有的船都配備了雙 VM-A 水冷核反應(yīng)堆，最后一艘潛艇是實驗性的 K-27，由一對 VT-1液態(tài)金屬冷卻反應(yīng)堆提供動力。

The November class vessels were top-of-the-line attack submarines designed to locate surface vessels and opposing submarines using a powerful MG-200 sonar system. Once in range, Novembers would strike with ship-killing 533mm SET-65 or 53-65K torpedoes, each carrying up to 300 kilograms of hull-shattering explosives.

11月級艦艇是頂級的攻擊潛艇，設(shè)計用來定位水面艦艇和使用強大的 MG-200聲納系統(tǒng)對抗?jié)撏?。一旦進入射程，“十一月號”將用533毫米“ SET-65”或53-65K 魚雷擊沉船只，每枚魚雷攜帶300公斤的炸藥。

A majority of the Soviet’s nuclear submarine classes operated from the Arctic-based Northern Fleet, headquartered in the northwestern port city of Murmansk. The Northern Fleet bases are roughly 900 kilometers west of the Kara Sea dumping grounds. A second, slightly smaller hub of Soviet submarine power was the Pacific Fleet, based in and around Vladivostok on Russia’s east coast above North Korea. Additional Soviet-era submarines sailed from bases in the Baltic and Black Seas.

蘇聯(lián)大多數(shù)核潛艇都是由總部設(shè)在北極的北方艦隊使用的，該艦隊的總部設(shè)在西北部港口城市摩爾曼斯克。北方艦隊基地位于喀拉海潛艇墳場以西約900公里處。蘇聯(lián)潛艇力量的第二個略小的中心是太平洋艦隊，駐扎在朝鮮上游的俄羅斯東海岸符拉迪沃斯托克及其周邊地區(qū)。其他蘇聯(lián)時代的潛艇從位于波羅的海和黑海的基地出發(fā)。

Mothballed nuclear submarines pose the potential for disaster even before scrapping begins. In October of 1995, 12 decommissioned Soviet subs awaited disposal in Murmansk, each with fuel cells, reactors, and nuclear waste still aboard. When the cash-strapped Russian military didn’t pay the base’s electric bills for months, the local power company shut off power to the base, leaving the line of submarines at risk of meltdown. Military staffers had to persuade plant workers to restore power by threatening them at gunpoint.

被封存的核潛艇甚至在開始拆毀之前就構(gòu)成了潛在的災(zāi)難。1995年10月，12艘退役的蘇聯(lián)潛艇在摩爾曼斯克等待處理，每艘潛艇上都裝有燃料電池、反應(yīng)堆和核廢料。由于資金短缺的俄羅斯軍方幾個月沒有支付基地的電費，當?shù)氐碾娏厩袛嗔嘶氐碾娏?yīng)，使得潛艇線路面臨熔毀的危險。軍方工作人員不得不用槍威脅核電站工人，要求他們恢復(fù)電力。

When it is time to dispose of the vessel’s reactors, crews cut vertical slices into the hull of the submarine and chop out the single or double reactor compartment along with an additional compartment fore and aft in a single huge cylinder-shaped chunk. Once sealed, the cylinder can float on its own for several months, even years, before it is lifted onto a barge and sent to a long-term storage facility.

當?shù)搅颂幚矸磻?yīng)堆的時候，工作人員會在潛艇的外殼上切下垂直切片，將單個或雙個反應(yīng)堆艙連同前后一個巨大的圓柱形艙體一起切割出來。一旦密封，鋼瓶可以自己漂浮幾個月，甚至幾年，然后再被提升到駁船上，送往長期儲存設(shè)施。

But during the Cold War, nuclear storage in Soviet Russia usually meant a deep-sea dump job. At least 14 reactors from bygone vessels of the Northern Fleet were discarded into the Kara Sea. Sometimes, the Soviets skipped the de-fueling step beforehand, ditching the reactors with their highly radioactive fuel rods still intact.

但在冷戰(zhàn)期間，蘇聯(lián)的核儲存通常意味著在深海傾倒。至少有14個來自北方艦隊舊船的反應(yīng)堆被丟棄到喀拉海。有時候，蘇聯(lián)人會提前跳過卸燃料的步驟，直接拋棄高放射性燃料棒的反應(yīng)堆。

According to the Bellona, the Northern Fleet also jettisoned 17,000 containers of hazardous nuclear material and deliberately sunk 19 vessels packed with radioactive waste, along with 735 contaminated pieces of heavy machinery. More low-level liquid waste was poured directly into the icy waters.

據(jù)貝羅納報道，北方艦隊還拋棄了17000個裝有危險核材料的集裝箱，并有意沉沒了19艘裝滿放射性廢料的船只，以及735件受到污染的重型機械。更多的低放射性液體廢物被直接倒入冰冷的水中。

One of the most egregious and dangerous disposal capers was that of the K-27, the experimental November-class submarine with two liquid metal-cooled reactors. While at sea in 1968, one reactor aboard the K-27 suffered a leak and partial meltdown. Radiation exposure killed nine crewmen and sickened 83 more. The K-27 limped back to port, but after years of analysis, naval crews deemed it impossible to save. In 1981, tugs towed K-27 into the Kara and scuttled the hulk, sending everything—fuel, reactors, and other waste—to the bottom. Experts suggest safely sinking nuclear material to at least 3,000 meters. The K-27 lies at 50 meters.

其中一個最惡劣和危險的處置出現(xiàn)異常是 K-27，實驗性的 N級核潛艇與雙液態(tài)金屬冷卻反應(yīng)堆。1968年在海上，K-27上的一個反應(yīng)堆發(fā)生了泄漏和部分熔毀。輻射導(dǎo)致9名船員死亡，83人患病。K-27一瘸一拐地回到港口，但經(jīng)過多年的分析，海軍船員認為不可能挽救。1981年，拖船把 K-27拖進卡拉號，鑿沉了這艘船，把所有的東西——燃料、反應(yīng)堆和其他廢物——都送到了海底。專家建議將核材料安全沉降至少3000米。但K-27位于50米處。

In 2012, a joint Norwegian/Russian inspection of the K-27 wreck revealed little deterioration—but naval experts think the sub might only stay intact until 2032.

2012年，挪威和俄羅斯對 K-27沉船的聯(lián)合檢查顯示，它幾乎沒有老化，但海軍專家認為，這艘潛艇可能只能完好無損地保持到2032年。

Another submarine is perhaps a bigger risk for a radioactive leak. K-159, a November class, suffered a radioactive discharge accident in 1965 but served until 1989. After languishing in storage for 14 years, a 2003 storm ripped K-159 from its pontoons during a transport operation, and the battered hulk plunged to the floor of the Barents Sea, killing nine crewmen. The wreck lies at a depth of around 250 meters, most likely with its fueled and unsealed reactors open to the elements.

另一艘潛艇也可能會有更大的放射性泄漏風險。11月份級的 K-159級，在1965年遭受了放射性物質(zhì)泄漏事故，但一直服役到1989年。2003年的一場暴風雨在一次運輸行動中將 K-159號船從浮筒上刮了下來，這艘破舊的船體跌落到了巴倫支海的地面上，造成9名船員死亡。沉船位于250米左右的深度，很可能是燃料反應(yīng)堆和未密封反應(yīng)堆已暴露。

Russia has announced plans to raise the K-27, the K-159, and four other dangerous reactor compartments discarded in the Arctic. As of March 2020, Russian authorities estimate the cost of the recovery effort will be approximately $330 million.

俄羅斯已經(jīng)宣布了提取 K-27、 K-159和其他四個在北極丟棄的危險反應(yīng)堆艙的計劃。截至2020年3月，俄羅斯當局估計回收工作的費用約為3.3億美元。

The first target is K-159. But lifting the sunken sub back to the surface will take a specially built recovery vessel, one that does not yet exist. Design and construction of that ship is slated to begin in 2021, to be finished by the end of 2026. Now, in order to avoid an underwater Chernobyl, the Russians are beginning a terrifying race against the relentless progression of decay.

第一個目標是 K-159。但是將沉沒的潛艇打撈回水面需要一艘專門建造的回收船，這艘船目前還不存在。該船的設(shè)計和建造計劃于2021年開始，2026年底完成。現(xiàn)在，為了避免水下的切爾諾貝利，俄羅斯人開始了一場可怕的競賽，對抗不斷惡化的腐朽。